October 2, 2011 Cycle A
Isaiah 5:1-7 Philippians 4:6-9 Matthew 21:33-43
Some have read the novel, and many others have seen the film adaptation of “The Help.” The words of the maid instructing one of the family’s children continue to ring out:
“You is kind.
You is smart.
You is important.”
These words of instruction offering inspiration and wisdom were given by one of the black maids who spent her entire life working for white families. These women have raised the children in these families. They often establish a bond with these children stronger and more loving than the children have with their own mothers. The reinforcement of some basic positive characteristics can be a lesson for us today as well. “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
As we hear the Gospel story today, it is a reminder of a world where God the owner calls us all to create a vineyard that will yield a harvest of justice and reconciliation. The author of the book, “The Help,” portrays Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s, of a city deeply divided by race. It portrays the injustice of segregation and bigotry in the South on the eve of the Civil Rights Movement. This town was torn apart by self-centeredness, hatred and racism, fueled by fear.
The Scriptures today paint a similar picture in the first reading from Isaiah and in the Gospel Parable of the Vineyard. God as the owner of the Vineyard has “leased the property to the religious and biblical leaders of Israel.” Many servants, that is the Prophets, were sent to the tenants to remind them of their debt to the Vineyard owner, but all met the same fate. The owner finally sent his own Son who was brtally murdered outside the Vineyard – a prediction of His crucifixion outside the city of Jerusalem.
With this Parable Jesus places Himself in the line of the rejected Prophets. God, the owner, finally comes Himself and destroys the tenants and leave the Vineyard to others, namely the Church, who yield an abundant harvest. This Parable is intended to give hope and encouragement to St. Matthew’s community of first believers. This community had been scorned and persecuted by its staunchly Jewish neighbors.
But more importantly it teaches us that we have been also given a portion of God’s Vineyard ourselves to cultivate. Fear, selfishness, and arrogance can destroy whatever chances we have of turning our patch into something productive. “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
For through compassion, generosity, and justice, we can better realize a meaningful and fulfilling harvest regardless of how small or insignificant our piece of the Vineyard may seem to be. Maybe at times we feel rejected as the Prophet’s in the Hebrew Scriptures felt. Perhaps we feel that those we’ve been sent to minister to have not appreciated us, and we find ourselves unable to awaken an excitement about God with our loved ones that we had hoped when we first became deeply converted. Yet, if we claim to be a disciple of Jesus, and a witness of His Resurrection, we are called to persevere, and not let discouragement overwhelm us. For again we are reminded that “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” It is our belief that selfless compassion, humble forgiveness, and healing reconciliation, will realize the harvest of God’s Vineyard to its fullest.
Let us come then as people of God to reject whatever “stones” scare us, or threaten us, whatever we don’t understand, whatever challenges us in the safe lives we have built. For Christ the Messiah comes as the cornerstone of love, rather than selfishness. Jesus comes as a man of hope, rather than cynicism; of peace, rather than hostility; of forgiveness, rather than vengeance; for we know in God’s love “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
Amen. Amen. Msgr. Tom Adrians, Pastor Christ the King